City Guides – The New Facebook Feature All Hospitality Venues Should Be Talking About

City Guides uses GPS technology to recognise when a user is in a new location. It will then feed the user information about this city including recommended cafes, bars and restaurants.

How Facebook’s City Guides Works

This feature is relatively new so marketers are still trying to get their heads around how it works. What we do know is that the feature uses an algorithm to create personalised recommendations for the user. These recommendations are a combination of where locals frequent and where their friends have previously visited. When the user scrolls through City Guides they can see basic information about each suggestion including a star rating, the number of reviews that have been made about that location, and how many of their friends have visited that particular place. Each recommendation also includes a short summary of what a user can expect when they visit the suggested location. This is created by combining the words people most often use when talking about that venue. This might include things like, ‘great steak lunch’, ‘amazing beers on tap’, and ‘private dining’.

How Can Venues Make The Most Of City Guides

Getting your cafe, bar or restaurant on City Guides is a great way to appeal to the tourist market. Travellers from overseas and interstate are entering your city every day and looking for the best ways to make the most of their stay.

City Guides can offer your business an advantage by telling tourists about your venue the moment they step foot in your city. Unfortunately getting your venue on City Guides is easier said than done.

You can’t pay your way into the feature. At least not yet. Facebook wants to give the user the best possible suggestions relevant to who they are. However, there are a few things you can do to boost your chances of getting on City Guides.

1. Encourage More Facebook Check-Ins

Find fun and creative ways to encourage Check-Ins on your venue’s Facebook page. This might include offering prize incentives such as free coffee or the chance to win a free dining experience at your venue. This has a strong likelihood of boosting your chances of appearing on City Guides as a large part of their recommendations are based on who else has been to that venue.

2. Boost Your Reviews

Even before City Guides existed, we knew that reviews are important for businesses on Facebook. Recent statistics show that 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a venue. Now with City Guides, reviews, specifically positive reviews, are more crucial than ever.

3. Optimise Facebook Business Page

Make sure your Facebook Business Page is the best it can be. This means providing as much information about your venue as possible on the business page and making sure it is consistent with the information on your website and other sites. This will help Facebook know that you are a serious business and a reliable recommendation.